As tens of thousands of delegates and tens of thousands of journalists all descend on Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention this week, security is a growing concern. As everyone is aware, former President Donald Trump narrowly avoided dying from a would-be assassin’s bullet on Saturday while at a rally in a rural community outside of Pittsburgh. One attendee was killed and at least two others critically injured.
We were always going to include stories about the RNC convention in this week’s various Key Reads updates. However, the current climate in the wake of Saturday’s shooting has us viewing the event through a whole new prism.
On Thursday, Trump will accept his party’s nomination at the Fiserv forum –less than a week after the shooting. Yet the City of Milwaukee has come to a ‘handshake agreement’ with protestors, who persuaded the city to loosen security protocols.
Today, an unsanctioned (but allowed) march will kick off at noon, and the protest will ‘pause’ and rally across the street from the Fiserv Forum. This despite the fact that according to previously announced security restrictions, none of that is allowed.
It is outrageous. Strike that. It was outrageous before the attempt on Donald Trump’s life this weekend. The protesters said last night that the City hasn’t altered their agreement at all after the assassination attempt. Therefore, that decision is no longer merely outrageous, it’s downright dangerous.
They’re tempting fate and trusting thousands of protesters, most from out-of-state, to honor some unofficial pledge to behave?!?!?!
Milwaukee city leaders and police department should not negotiate with ‘revolutionaries’ who demand changes in security measures | Dairyland Sentinel
A Dairyland Sentinel Perspective by Brian Fraley
Someone tried to kill Donald Trump on Saturday. Came within a millimeter of doing so.
The Associated Press is reporting just how close the shooter came to the Trump Rally.
It is no time to negotiate with protesters who are vowing to breach the established Republican National Convention security perimeter in order to get closer to Trump and RNC delegates in Milwaukee.
According to press reports, “Organizers of a protest group that long vowed to march in close proximity to next week’s Republican National Convention announced Friday they reached a deal with the city allowing them to demonstrate one block away from Fiserv Forum.”
That would be in conflict with the security perimeters and designated protest areas announced by law enforcement.
There is absolutely no reason local law enforcement should engage in a ‘handshake agreement’ with protesters who are gearing up for conflict with authorities. In fact, prudence would dictate a larger, more hardened security footprint be maintained.
There are designated protest areas. There is no designated parade route, but there are hard and soft security zones. The laws and prohibition on non-permitted marches should be upheld.
These protestors are gearing up for massive conflicts and the subsequent arrests that will follow. Weeks ago they announced Sunday’s fundraising benefit concert to help pay for bail for those who will break the law.
Make no mistake, you have a right to vocally disagree with politicians and people in power. But you do not have a right to create unsafe conditions for tens of thousands of people.
Over the last several months, thousands of individuals from across the country have been busy organizing mass demonstrations to coincide with with the RNC in Milwaukee. These groups include the Party of Communists USA and The American Party of Labor, which bills itself as “a revolutionary working class organization in the United States.”
They join dozens of local, state and national organizations and activists endorsing the Coalition to March on the RNC 2024 Monday through Thursday.
It is clear they expect conflicts and mass arrests to occur. They are gearing up for it, raising money for bailing out those arrested.
So, again…Someone tried to kill Donald Trump on Saturday. Came within a millimeter of doing so.
It’s no time to negotiate with protesters who are vowing to breach the security perimeter in order to get closer to Trump and RNC delegates in Milwaukee.
Expand the hard security perimeter. Be clear that any march cannot cross it, or any soft perimeter.
Make it crystal clear the law will be enforced.
The weather continues to be a major story across the state, and not just for farmers.
June was one of the wettest in state history | WPR
Last month was one of the wettest on record for June in a dramatic reversal from the drought conditions that covered Wisconsin at the same time last year.
The month marked the sixth-wettest June in state history based on records dating back to 1895. That’s according to Steve Vavrus, director of the Wisconsin State Climatology Office.
This has caused the governor to release some much-needed assistance.
Wisconsin governor declares state of emergency for 4 counties, including 1 where flooding hit dam | The Associated Press
Gov. Tony Evers declared a state of emergency on Friday for four northeastern Wisconsin counties hit last week by flooding that prompted evacuations and opened a breach in a dam.
The executive order signed by Evers declares a state of emergency for Calumet, Outagamie, Waupaca and Winnebago counties. It comes after last week’s heavy rainfall caused flooding across that region and forced evacuations on July 5 in the cities of Appleton and Manawa.
…Evers’ order allows that state agency to pay for extraordinary expenses, including repairs, that can arise when a facility such as a nursing home is evacuated.
They may have cooled off a bit, but Wisconsin’s Major League baseball team, the Milwaukee Brewers, have had a phenomenal season. As the team reaches the All Star Break, their play and their record may be the surprise of the season for all of Major League Baseball. After all, they traded their Ace pitcher, their other stud pitcher is out injured all year, and their manager quit on them to go to the dreaded Cubs. This was all before the season began, a season which has found the team cobbling together a pitching staff with duct tape and baling wire as they fight an injury bug that has seen them turn to more than a dozen starting pitchers already. It’s a feel-good story that fans here in Wisconsin hope will continue deep into October.
‘We believed’: Despite recent skid, the Brewers always felt they’d be in first place | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
We believed,” said shortstop Willy Adames, fresh off a 4-for-4, four-RBI performance that powered a 9-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on Sunday afternoon at American Family Field.
Adames, one of three Brewers to also homer, headed off to Mexico following the game part of a Milwaukee team that sported a 55-42 record, good enough for a 4 ½-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central Division despite myriad injuries to key players, 16 different pitchers starting a game and a heavy reliance on young, unproven talent.
“They bounce back pretty quickly,” said manager Pat Murphy when asked what he liked most about his team’s first half…”Act in spite of fear. What is that? That’s courage. And you just keep doing it. It’s hard; doesn’t mean you sleep well, doesn’t mean you remain loose. You just keep showing up. These guys keep showing up, no matter how many years they’ve played.”
…”I feel like it’s just a mind set,” said Adames, who closes out the first half with team highs in homers with 15 and RBI with 67. “The boys never give up…”
When Spring Training begins, all baseball fans are filled with hope. But even the most hopeful Brewers fan did not see this first-half dominance coming.
Let’s remain hopeful that the Republican Convention in the same city can go off without any security problems, despite the foolhardy negotiations the City had with self-proclaimed revolutionaries who are spoiling for conflicts.
We’ll keep you posted on this and other stories in the week ahead.
